‘BLACKFISH’ TAKES AIM AT SEAWORLD

“Blackfish”

Rating: PG-13

When: Opens today

Where: Landmark Hillcrest & La Jolla Village

Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

★★★

The new documentary from director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, “Blackfish,” hits close to home, quite literally. You may have heard of it already — this is the film about Tilikum, the orca who resides in SeaWorld Orlando, to whom the term “killer whale” certainly applies. The 6-ton orca has killed three people in the last 20 years and was responsible for the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau, whose demise led the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to ban SeaWorld killer whale trainers from getting into the water with the animals.

The film provides a dramatic argument against keeping killer whales in captivity for the entertainment of humans and is a scathing assault on the popular theme park and tourist attraction.

Cowperthwaite begins by documenting how baby whales were, at one time, stolen out of the wild and away from their mothers and delivered to theme parks. Tilikum was originally procured in this manner, and he spent his early years at a low-end Canadian theme park known as SeaLand. There he shared a pen with two dominant female whales who regularly injured him. This behavior is typical in the wild, but in captivity a submissive whale has nowhere to escape. The director interviews biologists, who confirm that marine mammals such as orcas have complex emotional lives, and she suggests that this upbringing turned out a 12,000-pound creature with serious anger issues, if not a degree of psychosis.

SeaLand is also where Tilikum killed his first human, in 1991. A year later, he was sent to SeaWorld Orlando, and in 1999, a 27-year-old man, who had sneaked into the orca tank after the park closed, was found dead, draped over Tilikum’s back. But it was the killing of Brancheau in 2010 that gained national prominence, the details of which, Cowperthwaite says, were essentially covered up by SeaWorld in order to keep the park in a positive light, and to maintain control over Tilikum, who is valued as both an attraction and a breeder.

She isn’t the only one to make that assertion. What is most impressive about “Blackfish” are the on-camera interviews with several former SeaWorld orca trainers, many of whom knew Brancheau, and all of whom have an ax to grind with SeaWorld. They are undoubtedly thankful for the time they were able to spend with those enormous creatures, but what’s most stunning is to learn of the qualifications needed to become a SeaWorld killer whale trainer, which are considerably less stringent than I would have expected. In hindsight, they collectively feel as though they were unprepared to be working with creatures as large as Tilikum, or even his offspring, who are frequently half his size.

It would be irresponsible to review the film without delving into the controversy that surrounds it. SeaWorld repeatedly declined to be interviewed for Cowperthwaite’s film, but two weeks ago, I received an email from a publicist with the subject line “A dishonest movie.” It contained a list of alleged inaccuracies within the film, calling the movie “shamefully dishonest, deliberately misleading, and scientifically inaccurate.” Days later, I received a rebuttal from the filmmakers, which countered every SeaWorld assertion. It’s actually understandable that SeaWorld wouldn’t go on camera the first time around — to do so would have given the documentary legitimacy. But by not participating in the movie itself, SeaWorld comes across looking as though it has something to hide.

This might be where you wonder if a film critic is qualified to judge SeaWorld on scientific, ethical or moral grounds. Believe me, I am not — and in the interests of disclosure, now would probably be a good time to mention that my family and I have annual passes to SeaWorld. But I can report on the film’s qualifications, and despite the off-screen war of words between the theme park and the filmmakers, what I can tell you is that “Blackfish” paints a picture that is terribly sad, one that could make people consider whether it is morally and ethically valid to use marine mammals, who have a proven degree of emotional intelligence, as part of for-profit entertainment. In light of what “Blackfish” has to say, that is seemingly a conversation worth having.

Anders Wright reviews movies for U-T San Diego. Email him at anderswright@gmail.com